IPL-10: Debutant Tie's hat-trick keeps Pune to 171/8 vs Gujarat

Rajkot, April 14 (IANS) Debutant Gujarat Lions all-rounder Andrew Tie provided the second hat-trick of the day after Royal Challengers Bangalore's Samuel Badree got one in the afternoon game against Mumbai Indians, even as Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) reached 171/8 in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday.

Tie bagged five wickets (5/17), the first in this edition of the IPL, including a hat-trick in the final over of Pune's innings, which yielded only four runs as the visitors lost the settled duo of Manoj Tiwary (31), Ankit Sharma (25) and then Shardul Thakur (0) off consecutive deliveries.

Put in to bat, Pune's opening woes continued to haunt them with the loss of the in-form Ajinkya Rahane (0) in the very first over.

It was the change of line that worked for veteran Praveen Kumar. Halfway into the first over, his good length delivery came back in which Rahane gently tried to dab to third man only to find Suresh Raina latching on a stunning catch at first slip.

Rahane's dismissal brought in the skipper Steve Smith (43), who along with opener Rahul Tripathi (33) launched an onslaught, which Praveen will perhaps remember for a long long time.

Bowling his third over on the trot, the 30-year-old medium pacer was milked for 25 runs, with Tripathi dispatching him for two consecutive sixes and a four before Smith fetched two back to back boundaries as Pune rushed to their fastest IPL 50.

Smith was equally harsh on left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati, punishing him with a boundary and a six in his first over.

As Pune looked set for a massive total, Tie provided the hosts with the crucial breakthrough in the form of Tripathi with a slower delivery which the batsman failed to lift and was caught by Aaron Finch at mid-off.

Tripathi's 17-ball effort was laced with three hits to the fence and two over it but more importantly set the tone with a 64-run second wicket stand with the Australian captain.

Englishman Ben Stokes then joined Smith to add 25 runs before the strategic time out after the 9th over once again turned out to be of great advantage for the fielding side.

Returning from the break, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Smith got the prized scalp of the Australian, who mistimed a back of a length outside off to be caught at long-on by Finch. Smith's 28-ball 43 contained six boundaries and a six.

Two overs later, Stokes departed to another slower delivery from Tie which knocked off his off-stump, after the IPL 2017's costliest buy faced 18 balls, hitting two boundaries and a six.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, playing his first match of the season, immediately provided another breakthrough with the wicket of former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (5), whose form continued to desert him for the fourth consecutive match.

Bengal batsman Tiwary, who got a life on 18 when Jadeja missed one off his own ball, provided some resistance with Sharma.

Sharma, who dispatched Praveen Kumar for a six over midwicket in the penultimate over, fell on the first ball the final over before Tiwary departed next ball to Tie. The right-left duo added 47 runs for the sixth wicket.